Apparatus for condensing steam



D. B. MORISON., APPARATUS FOR CONDENSING STEAMi APPLICATLON FILED DEC-5, 1918..

Patented May 17, 1921.

rlllx INVENTOJ? w .o o o o o o o o o o 1 T o o o o o o o o o o o o o o oo o o m 0 o o o 0 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 3 To m o o o oo o o UNITED STATES PATENT osrics.

DON ALD MORISON, OF HARTLEPOOL, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR oonnnnsnve STEAM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1'7, 1921.

Application filed. December 5, 1918. Serial No. 265,471.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD BARNs Monr- .8011, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain,-

. shipboard in which the amount of steam to be condensed depends on thenumber of auxiliary engines in use, the temperature of the condensatevaries considerably with varia-' tions in the quantity ofsteam'condensed. In condensers of this kind, whether worked atatmospheric pressure or under vacuum, it is densing water that at themaximum or. peak load the temperature of condensate will not usual tocirculate such a quantity of coneXceed the desired predetermined highlimit which can be satisfactorily dealt with by the discharging pump,the temperature of' the condensate falling with reductions in the steamload, until at lightjload it is very considerably belowthe highlimitdesiredj Condensers have been proposed so designed that aproportion of the condensate collects in the bottom of the condenser andis cooled by contact with the condensing tubes or surface but in suchcases the depth if immersion has been constant and controlled by theheight at which the overflow opening was located or set. Obviously withsuch." an arrangement the depth of cooling 1 surface immersed would be,for a given setting of the overflow opening, the same for light loads asfor heavy loads.

The object of my lnventlon 1s to provide means whereby the coolingeffect will vary) automatically with the steam load and I accomplishthis by causing the depth of condensing surface immersed to vary withthe steam load; I

That is to say at any given predetermined steam. load practically allthe condensate will flow away freely and there will be no cooling but asthe steam load increases the condensate willcollect and the depth ofimmersion will consequently-increase, Thus a more constant temperatureof condensate wlll be attained since the cooling effect will lncreaseautomatically with the steam load.

My lnvention may therefore be said to consist broadly of a method of.working steam condensers according to'whic'h, above any predeterminedsteam load, variations of steam load are accompanied by variations inthe condensing surface immersed.-

The automatic means for cooling maybe constructed integral with thecondenser, or separate therefrom, but I prefer an arrange ment in whichthe condenser is constructed so that when the condensate is small in tothe hotwell or the discharging pump, the opening-being of such area thatat higher loads, the condensate automatically rises in the condenser,and floods over a portion of the condensing surface and is therebycooled.

A. convenient form of condenser constructed in accordance withmyinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein Figure 1 is an elevational view of one form of condenserconstructed in ac-' cordance wlth my 1nvent1on, Fig. 2 1s a sectionalview thereof on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 3 and 4 are similar viewsi1lu squantity it passes through an opening direct trating my inventionas applied to condens'ers of other well known forms. Referring to thesedrawings, and in particular to Figs. 1 and 2, the body 1 of thecondenser is: divided by vertical partitions 2 into a number ofcommunicating condensing compartments 3 arranged in series in a knownmanner. According to my invention, however, I provide in the base of thecondenser an outlet d (or more than one outlet may be provided ifdesired), which is of the required area, or'is fitted with means, as bya valve 5, whereby the area can be adjusted to requirements, and Iarrange anoverflow outlet or outlets 6 from the condenser 1, 'at asuitable location above the bottom thereof;

With such an arrangement,=the condensate at a predetermined load flowsfrom the. condenser through the outlet or outlets 4 in the base, whileas the load increases and the condensate becomes greater in quantity, itgradually rises in the condenser by reason of its inability to flowsufficiently rapidly through the restricted outlet 01" outlets 4, and

floods over such of the condensing tubes 7 as are located below theoverflow outlet or outlets 6, until at peak or maximum load, it reachesthe overflow outlet 6 through which it flows into a hotwell 8, and,mixing with the condensate flowing through the outlet or outlets 4 inthe base, results in a supply which is not greater in temperature thandesired. This arrangement is particularly useful on shipboard, as whenthe exhaust from the auxiliary machinery is variable in quantity, thetemperature of the condensate is automatically regulated in a simplemanner to a temperature which is reasonably constant but not excessive.

The arrangement described in Figs. 1 and 2 also has the advantage thatby flooding the bottom of two or more of the compartments the area ofthe port or passage available for the flow of steam from one compartmentto another, may be reduceduntil only a narrow space is left between theedge of the partition and the surface of the water, thus tending toproduce uniform distribution of steam from one compartment to anotherthroughout the length of such compartments.

In Figs. 3 and 4 my invention is shown as applied to other well knownforms of sur-v face condenser, and the principle of operationv is inthese cases precisely the same. The condenser l is provided with anoutlet or outlets 4:, whose effective areawhich may be controlled by avalve such as 5-suffices to drain away a predetermined quantity ofcondensate. An overflow outlet or outlets 6 preferably arranged beneatha baf- 'fle 9, which forces steam to follow a circuitous path are alsoprovided together with the usual hotwell 8. The operation is preciselyas before described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. That is to say, atany pre-' determined load all the condensate flowsdirectlythrough thisrestricted opening which is insuflicient to permit of the passage of allthe condensate when the load increases, and it therefore collects inthe'bottom of the condenser 1, the level rising until it flowsthroughthe overflow outlets 6, becoming sufl'iciently cooled by reasonof its contact with the lower condenser tubes.

Condensers in accordance with my invention may be supplied with the ingsand accessories.

vWhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent-is:, V

1. A steam condenserhaving a restricted outletproceeding from its baseand means for controlling said outlet whereby at any predetermined steamload, determined by the setting of the controlling meansfor the outlet,the condensate can flow away freely and be uncooled but as the steamload in- .creases beyond. the predetermined load condensate Wlll'OQllBCtin the bottom of the conusual mountfor the purpose specified.

8. A steam condenser having an outlet, a screw down valve for regulatingand controlling the effective area of said outlet, and

an overflow outlet at a higher level, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

4. A steam condenser comprising a mam condenser structure, a restrictedoutlet in the base of said structure, an overflow outletfrom saidstructure at a higher level, and a hotwell into which both said outletslead, substantially as specified.

5. A steam condenser having an outlet in its base, means for regulatingand controlling the effective area of said outlet, and anoverflow outletat a higher level, and a hotwell into which condensate from bothsaid'outlets flows, substantially as specified.

6. A steam COIIIClBIISBI having an outlet in its base, means forregulating and" controlling the effective area of said outlet, and anoverflow outlet at a higher level, and a hotwell into which condensatefrom both said outlets flows, substantially as specified.

its base, a screw down valve for regulating and controlling theeffective area of said outlet, an overflow outlet at a higher level,

and a baffle located above said overflow outlet, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

9. A steam condenser comprising a main condenser structure, a restrictedoutlet in the base of said structure,- an overflow outlet from saidstructure. at a higher level, a

baffle located above said overflow outlet, and a hotwell into which bothsaid outlets lead, substantially as specified.

10. A steam condenser having an outlet 1 in its base, means forregulating "and controlling the effective area of said outlet, anoverflow outlet at a higher level, a bafHe,

located above said overflow outlet, and a hotwell into which condensatefrom the condenser flows, substantially as specified;

-11.'A steam condenser having an outlet in its base, means forregulating and controlling the effective area of said outlet,and anoverflow outlet at a higher level, a bafhotwell into which condensatefrom the condenser flows, substantially as specified.

12. A steam condenser having a restricted outlet and means permittingvarying discharge therethrough whereby the depth of tube immersionincreases with the increase means for regulating and controlling the 10discharge from said outlet and an overflow for determining the maximumdepth of tube immersion.

Signed at American consular agency, West Hartlepool, England, thistwentieth day of November, 1918.

1). B. MORISON.

Witnesses:

W. G. LOVERIDGE, W. HUMES.

